The biennial Trade and Sustainable Development Symposium, organised by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and held alongside the WTO ministerial conference for over a decade, is the leading multi-stakeholder platform for intellectual enquiry and dialogue on sustainable development and the global trade and investment system. It acts as an inclusive platform outside of the WTO negotiating setting for sharing ideas, engaging in dialogue, and influencing trade policy negotiations. Drawing in participants from government, business and civil society, the Symposium helps to maintain and elaborate a global vision of sustainable development in trade and investment policymaking.

To discuss the role of platforms and internet intermediaries (wrongly named “OTT”) in sustainable development, the policies necessary for intermediaries and platforms to bring the best opportunities for SMEs to thrive, regionally and globally, and demonstrate how online platforms help create economic value and what specific policies are optimal for WTO to work on.

Andrew Ure is Head of Trade and Economic Affairs in Asia-Pacific for Google. In this role he oversees Google's relationships with regional trade bodies such as APEC and ASEAN, and manages research into the economic and social impact of the internet. Prior to this he was Managing... Read More →

Ady is an Integration and Trade Senior Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank, where he leads technology-based projects in trade facilitation, such as ConnectAmericas.com and the Argentine Trade Single Window. Ady also coordinates the Americas Business Dialogue’s Dig... Read More →

John Karr is the senior director for Technology Programs at The Asia Foundation. His current focus is on the role of online platforms in international development; the future of work; and distributed systems and blockchain technologies in the Asia Pacific. As the director of The Asia... Read More →

Founder & CEO of Nextrade Group, a data and research company that helps governments and Fortune 500s optimize public policies and investments in trade and ecommerce worldwide; Founder of TradeUp Capital Fund, a growth capital platform for globalizing tech companies acquired by Ne... Read More →